Father's Day is observed on the third Sunday of June. It honors all fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and father figures for their contribution. The Day was created to complement Mother's Day.

Read more here. . . .

June 18, 2023

WEST NILE SEASON IS HERE. THE FIRST CASE IN OUR PRACTICE WAS SEEN THIS PAST MONTH. USE PROTECTION

COVID LEVELS ARE LOW BUT PRESENT.  WE ARE SEEING COVID IN TRAVELERS AND IN PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT HAVE COVID YET. CONSIDER BOOSTING AND MASKING DURING TRAVEL.

PLEASE USE MOSQUITO REPELLENT DAILY UNTIL THE END OF SEPTEMBER, OR AT LEAST WHEN IN HIGH EXPOSURE SITUATIONS.

ARIZONA IS THE PRIME USA LOCATION FOR WEST NILE DUE TO HIGH WEST NILE VIRUS LEVELS IN RAPTOR BIRDS WHO ARE IMMUNE TO WEST NILE ILLNESS, BUT NOT IMMUNE TO CARRYING THE VIRUS.

 THIS CAN RESULT IN ARIZONA MOSQUITOS WITH PARTICULARLY HIGH VIRUS LEVELS WHEN THEY BITE.

COVID:

THE 4^TH COVID BOOSTER IS APPROVED FOR THOSE OVER 65 OR THOSE WHO ARE YOUNGER AND HAVE COMPROMISED IMMUNE SYSTEMS. THIS IS A BIVALENT VACCINE WITH THE ORIGINAL COVID VIRUS & OMICRON VARIANT.

A NEW BOOSTER WILL BE APPROVED IN THE COMING WEEKS. IT WILL CONTAIN THE CURRENT VARIANT XBB, WHICH IS 99% OF THE COVID IN THE USA.

TOP PODCAST DONE WEEKLY

BY DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM

(UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA)  

He is a world-renowned epidemiologist who was credited with first elucidating TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME in the 1980’s.

He provides comprehensive and understandable/actionable ideas related to COVID.

Dr. Osterholm Update: COVID-19

June 15, 2023

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/episode-133-no-simple-answers

'No Simple Answers'

In this episode, Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss national and international COVID trends, a study on metformin and long COVID incidence, and the use of N95 respirators for protection against wildfire smoke. Dr. Osterholm also answers a COVID query on booster doses and shares a moment of joy from one of our listeners.

According to Dr. Osterholm……

• GET YOUR 4th BOOSTER (6th SHOT) IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD COVID OR IT’S BEEN LONGER THAN 4 MONTHS SINCE YOU HAD COVID YOURSELF
• A GOOD MASK, N95 OF KN95, DOES HELP REDUCE TRANSMISSION…. USE IT AT HIGH-RISK LOCATIONS
• GOOD VENTILATION IN ROOMS/HOME/BUSINESSES IS A GREAT WAY TO PREVENT TRANSMISSION
• VACCINE, VACCINE, VACCINE…THIS IS OUR PROTECTION.  ALL VACCINES ARE EFFECTIVE AND WITH TIME WE ARE SEEING THAT THE J&J VACCINE IS PICKING UP STEAM AND GIVES SOLID LONG-TERM PROTECTION.
• BOOST, BOOST, BOOST…THIS WILL BE NECESSARY TO PREVENT RECURRING SURGE AND TO RAISE ANTIBODY LEVELS IN THOSE ALREADY SET WITH THE PRIMARY COVID VACCINE SERIES.
• ANTIGEN TESTING IS USEFUL, BUT OF LIMITED VALUE. DON’T DEPEND ON IT…BUT USE IT.

Know that unvaccinated remain a source of potential infection.  Avoiding unvaccinated persons will reduce your risk of COVID.

After you received your COVID vaccinations, please let us know!

We would like to document this information into your chart.



BUT FIRST.......

PLEASE COMPLETE THE INFORMATION ON THE CARD BEFORE YOU SEND IT TO US!

What we need:

1. Your name
2. Date vaccination received
3. Brand name
4. Lot number if available
5. Which dose you have received

**Email your COVID vaccine completed info HERE

At our office, we are continuing to follow CDC guidelines and will strive for ways to keep our patients and staff safe.



We recommend that all unvaccinated and vaccinated patients and visitors entering our office cover their nose and mouth at all times.

To prevent further spread of the Delta & Omicron variants, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its mask guidance on March 21, 2022, to recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks when in areas with “substantial” and “high” transmission of Covid-19.

We have a limited supply of paper masks and will make these available to patients while they last, however, we encourage you to bring your own facial covering.

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that it was advising drugmakers to update the Covid booster shots to target XBB.1.5, the predominant coronavirus strain in the United States.

The announcement came a day after an advisory committee recommended updating the Covid vaccines to target a circulating strain of the virus.

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on Thursday voted unanimously in support of tweaking the shots to target an XBB strain, as well as dropping the original coronavirus strain from the formulation. During the meeting, the committee did not make a formal recommendation about which specific XBB lineage to include, though in a discussion after the vote, members expressed a preference for XBB.1.5.

"Based on the totality of the evidence, FDA has advised manufacturers who will be updating their Covid-19 vaccines, that they should develop vaccines with a monovalent XBB 1.5 composition," the FDA wrote in a release published online Friday.

Read more here. . . .

SUMMARY OF A COVID KIT & CHECK LIST:

This is what you should have at home to prepare for possible COVID, to monitor yourself if you were to get infected:

DIGITAL ORAL THERMOMETER: MANY BRANDS ARE FINE…HERE IS ONE EXAMPLE:

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Thermometer-Reading-Waterproof-Indicator/dp/B087T3S4TR/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=THERMOMETER&qid=1597159324&sr=8-6

PULSE OXIMETER:  TO CHECK OXYGEN LEVELS. MANY BRANDS ARE FINE...HERE IS ONE EXAMPLE:

https://www.amazon.com/Innovo-Fingertip-Oximeter-Plethysmograph-Perfusion/dp/B07YVGZPRZ/ref=sr_1_20?dchild=1&keywords=PULSE+OXI&qid=1597159388&sr=8-20

OTHER ITEMS FROM THE HOME MEDICAL KIT:

·       TYLENOL, ADVIL, OR ALEVE

·       Sudafed 30mg tablets

·       Chlorpheniramine 4mg tablets

·       Robitussin DM syrup

·       Imodium AD

**CLICK HERE TO READ COMPLETE INFORMATION

If you had to choose, which would you rather have: a healthy father or a good father? Studies suggest men often choose being a good father over being healthy.

Becoming a father is a major milestone in the life of a man, often shifting the way he thinks from being “me focused” to “we focused.” But fatherhood can also shift how men perceive their health. Our research has found that fathers can view health not in terms of going to the doctor or eating vegetables but how they hold a job, provide for their family, protect and teach their children, and belong to a community or social network.

As founder and director of the Center for Research on Men’s Health at Vanderbilt University and as a postdoctoral fellow from Meharry Medical College, we study why men live shorter lives than women, male attitudes about fatherhood, how to help men engage in healthier behavior — as well as what can be done to reduce men’s risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Read more here. . . .

'Three Men And A Baby'

Take three of Hollywood's stars (Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, Ted Danson), add one adorable baby girl, and the result is the funniest

blockbuster comedy hit of the year!

Three handsome Manhattan bachelors find their dating and mating rituals irreparably damaged when an unexpected new roommate -- complete with crib, pacifier, and dirty diaper -- shows up on their doorstep.

This bouncing bundle of joy is anything but joyous -- until the trio's hilarious fathering instincts take over and she becomes "Daddy's Girl" to all three hunks.

Blanketed with unexpected story twists and endless laughs, THREE MEN AND A BABY delivers pure enchantment for all!

Stay Safe!